Want More High-Quality Teachers in Texas? Focus on Teacher Diversity
About 73% of Texas students are children of color. However, only 41% of teachers are people of color. Research shows that all students, regardless of race or ethnicity, benefit socially, emotionally, and academically from a strong, diverse teacher workforce. Yet, Black and Latino students are more likely to attend schools with greater numbers of novice teachers than their White peers. Despite the challenges that teachers of color experience, Black and Latino teachers in Texas are significantly more likely to stay in the profession than their White peers.
Amid rising efforts to turn classrooms into political battlegrounds, teacher shortages, and declines in enrollment to teacher preparation programs across the country, state leaders must find effective ways to diversify their educator workforce and boost student outcomes by recruiting, supporting, and retaining more educators of color.
When creating and implementing policies that affect classrooms, it’s imperative that teachers have a seat at the decision-making table. A team of Texas educators of color developed the policy recommendations outlined in this fact sheet.